Kirkjubøur: A Small Village in the Faroe Islands Packed with History

17

Sep

I am SO excited for my first post about the Faroe Islands! 🙂 I had been wanting to visit for a long time because it’s such an untouched place and photos of it looked amazing, and when Matt and I were planning our trip to Denmark, it was the perfect chance to visit the Faroe Islands for a few days.

We flew from Copenhagen into Vágar Airport, picked up our rental car, and drove to our first stop, Kirkjubøur (and don’t worry, I’ll have a whole post about getting to and around the Faroe Islands because it can be trickier than other countries). Kirkjubøur is a small village in the Faroe Islands just a 20 minute drive outside the capital, Tórshavn, and it’s the perfect first stop in islands 🙂

Kirkjubøur: A Small Village in the Faroe Islands Packed with History

Driving to Kirkjubøur

On the drive to Kirkjubøur, we passed some AMAZING views and I just had to pull the car over and take some photos! I did this many times during our trip because I just couldn’t get enough of the beautiful landscapes.

Faroe Islands sheep

Get ready to see a LOT of sheep because I took a million photos of them!

Faroe Islands sheep

Faroe Islands view from mountains

Faroe Islands sheep

Faroe Islands mountain view

Faroe Islands cliff view

Faroe Islands sheep

Kirkjubøur

Kirkjubøur church

Kirkjubøur is may be small, but it has a TON of history. It’s one of the oldest villages in the Faroe Islands, and it’s home to the 900-year-old farmhouse Kirkjubøargarður that is thought to be the oldest wooden house in the world still being used today. One family has lived there for 17 generations!

Kirkjubøur also has a lot of religious history, and it was the cultural and Episcopal center of the islands during the Medieval period. Ólavskirkja was built in 1111, and the Magnus Cathedral was built in the 1300s. Magnus Cathedral was actually never completed because it never got a roof, but it’s still the biggest Medieval building on the islands.

So needless to say, if you like history, Kirkjubøur is the place to go!

Ólavskirkja

Ólavskirkja

Ólavskirkja

Kirkjubøur grass roof houses

Kirkjubøargarður

Ólavskirkja

Ólavskirkja

Kirkjubøur graveyard

Kirkjubøur graveyard

Kirkjubøargarður

Kirkjubøargarður

Kirkjubøargarður

Kirkjubøur ocean view

Magnus Cathedral

Magnus Cathedral

Magnus Cathedral

Magnus Cathedral

Magnus Cathedral

Faroe Islands grass roof house

Kirkjubøur stone wall

Kirkjubøur

Faroe Islands red cows

Faroe Islands red cow

I was so excited to see these cows!

Faroe Islands red cows

Faroe Islands lamb

Oldest wooden house in the world

Kirkjubøur, Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands yellow flowers

Kirkjubøur ocean views

Kirkjubøur cliffs

Faroe Islands horses

Faroe Islands horses

Faroe Islands horses

Faroe Islands horses

Kirkjubøur house

Faroe Islands horse

We probably spent an hour walking around Kirkjubøur, and you probably don’t need much more time than that. We got really lucky with the weather, but we did have the worst weather of our trip in Kirkjubøur with super strong winds! Kirkjubøur is the at the southern tip of Streymoy, so it makes sense that it would be windy. So just be prepared!

Kirkjubøur soccer field

Kirkjubøur house

Kirkjubøur houses

Kirkjubøur

Kirkjubøur

Kirkjubøur duck

Faroe Islands duck

Kirkjubøur church

Kirkjubøur

Kirkjubøur stone house

Faroe Islands stone house

Kirkjubøur, Faroe Islands

Faroe Islands stone house

Kirkjubøur

Kirkjubøur was one of my favorite towns in the Faroe Islands, and I definitely recommend visiting if you’re going to Tórshavn! The historical buildings were some of the oldest I’ve ever seen (especially the oldest wooden house in the world!), and the views were just beautiful 🙂

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Blog, Europe, Faroe Islands, Photography, Travel

  1. Julia I adore your pictures, what a cute place!

  2. What a stunning landscape! Must be a magical place to escape to. What time of year would you recommend for visiting the Faroe islands?

    • Julia says:

      Yes it’s amazing! The weather is about the same all year long, but I did like going in the summer because the days are much longer then.

  3. Natasha says:

    Great post! I went to the Islands a few years ago and this has got me wanting to go back. Unfortunately, Kirkjubøargarður was our last stop and we didn’t have a ton of time, I would have liked to explore more. Great shots! Love the foggy ones. So Faroe Islands 😉

  4. Richa says:

    Such Gorgeous pictures of Faroe Islands. It was interesting to read about the oldest wooden 900-year-old Kirkjubøargarður farmhouse!

  5. Anna says:

    Your pictures are beautiful! And I love the landscape, the wooden houses and all the animals there! Just been to Scotland and reminded me a little bit of the scenery there.

  6. I wouldn’t be able to resist the sheep, either. The landscape looks so lush and beautiful! I love that so many of the homes have grassy rooftops that blend into the surrounding environment.

  7. Kristen says:

    This place is on my travel list too! Is it true that there’s a certain kind of lace made in the Faroe Islands?

  8. tonya says:

    Wow! I love the scenery! Why do some of the buildings have grass on the roofs?

    That baby cow looks for fluffy!

    • Julia says:

      Grass roofs were historically used for insulation and irrigation, especially where wood was rare! (There aren’t any natural forests in the Faroe Islands).

      Yes he was so cute and looked so soft!

  9. Amy says:

    What stunning photos! Absolutely breath taking scenery!

  10. Anne says:

    What lovely photos and what a stunning place, so glad I discovered your website.

  11. Katie says:

    What a stunning landscape! The buildings are so charming. And you have to love the sheep and cows, I would have taken a ton of photos of them too 🙂

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